The study assessed the oral narrative abilities of 10 normal and 10 learning-disabled (LD) middle school children (11-12 years old). Narratives were assessed using A. Applebee's system for the development of story organization. The narratives were also examined for the specific components used within the stories themselves. Findings revealed different developmental levels of narrative structure and a differentiation in the specific components within the story episodes between the groups of Ss. Findings suggested that LD Ss had difficulty formulating a well thought-out and coherent narrative, and that remediation should focus on the concepts of underlying narrative components. (CL)